Peach cutting and pitting machine



Aug. 19, 1924. 1,505,488

l. PIERMATTEI PE'ACH CUTTING AND PITTING MACHINE Aug. 19 1924.

l. PIERMATTEI PEACH CUTVTING AND FITTING MACHINE Fired April 24 19:24

5 shuts-Shout 2' m w 4 n .mi ZZ 5. 7 y y f l n A. u, m .M0 n-1 l il MI l :Film/ m f i: W w f M 4, n. m .m 4 T T. l T n 4 m mm p .H M .n oa l m f M V w. w 7 m Z abbot mm1 l with vertically disposed pit gripping shafts,

Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

UNITED stares,

IGNAZIO PIERIVIATTEL'OF LANDISVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

PEACH CUTTING AND PITT'iNG ifiiiwoiiiNn.

Application ledkApril 24, 1924. Serial Noi 708,689.`

To all whom t may Concern: y

Be it known that I, IGNAZIO PIERMATTEI,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Landisville, in the county of Atlantic, State of New Jersey, .have invented ainew andy useful Peach Cutting and'Pitting Machine; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to `makeand use the same.

The invention relates to peach cutting and pitting machines, and has for its object to provide a device of this character whereby a peach may be easily and quickly severed, pitted and-the severed parts spread apart, and then conveyed to a receptacle.

A further object is to provide the machine which shafts-are cam and lever-.operated for gripping the peach upon thefinitial operation, and cam and lever operating. knives for severing the peach at opposite sides after the gripping operation. yAlso to; provide knives formed in two registering sections and means for spreading said knives at the end of the cutting operation, thereby forcing `the the invention resides in the combination and' arrangement of parts as hereinafter. set

forth, shown in the drawing, described andv claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing Figure l is afront elevation of the peachy cutting and pitting machine. i

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the machine.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of one of the" knives and the spreading means therefor.

Figure 4L is a perspective view ofk one of the knives. l l

Figure 5 is an end view of one ofthepit gripping members. A

through f the upper pit gripping member and the operating `mechanism therefor.

Figure 6 is vertical sectional lview.

Figure 'i'.is a sideelevation lofthe peach o 4 gripping member shownin Figure 6 and adjacent mechanism.`

l l n isaaiaa i iisrrcn.

Referring to the` drawing, g the knumeral 1 designates the frame ofthemachiiie, in bearings 2 kof which is rotatably "mounted aV vertically disposed shaftB. 'The upper end of the shaft 3 isy provided-with a1bevelle`d gear a, with which the bevelledy gear 5 .carried by the horizontally disposed drive shaft 6 meshes.y tDrive shaft 6 may be driven yin any suitablemanner, however for ypurposes of illustration'is providedk with a pulley, through whichl may be belted any ysuitable kind of engine, and withv which any 'kind'of conventional form ofk clutch 8,- whereby they rotation ofthe shaft. 6 may be controlled in relationto the drive pulley 7. Extending through the frame l is an endless conveyor 9,

on which peaches ymay be placed for conveyingf the peaches `to a position-'adjacent the;

pitting and cutting mechanism'hereinafter set forth. The yconveyor 9 extends p over sprockets 10, at lone side of thefrainel, yand is adapted to convey pits 1'1 after they have been removed from'thef peaches toa disey charge chute' l2, into which they 'are dislf charged by the conveyor, said chute may have disposed thereunder a 'receptacle into whichthe pits are dischargedand collected. Sprockets 10 are inountedon a transversely disposed shaft 18, and which shaft is provided with abevelled gearflll, which meshes with a bevelled gear 15 carried'by a shaft3l6;

rIhe inner-end oftheshaft I6 isprovidedwith a ybevelled gear 17, which meshes with aV bevelled gear 1S of thevertically disposed shaft 3, therefore it will be seen that during f the rotation Aof Athe vertically disposed shaft 3, the endless lconveyorr 9 will be voperated,l

and consequentlythe conveyor will operate all the time `when thewkmachinefas a whole is" in operation'.

Slidably mounted on a vertically disposed y rod 19 Vis a peach vholder sleeve 20, the upper lend y'of which is provided' with teethy 2l', adapted' to pierce the under side of the peachL and engage the'pit thereimaiid at the same time move the peach upwardly toa posit-.ion betweenthehorizontally movable severing knives 22,therefoie it will be seen that the operatorie hand at no time isplacedbetween ico.,

the knives. Sleeve 2O is rocked by means of a rock lever 23, one end of which is connected to the sleeve by means of a pin 24 dis-y posed in a slot 25 of the lever, and the other end of which lever is provided with a roller 26 disposed in a cam' slot 27 of a cam Vblock 28 mounted on the shaft 3, therefore it will be seen that during the rotation of the shaft,

the sleeve 2O will be moved upwardly forv positioning a peach between theknives ,22, and will also be moved downwardly after the severing-operation. Rod 19 not only guides the sleeve 20, but forms means for i knockingthe peach seed from the toothed end of the sleeve if the same should become impaled thereon. It isr obvious that peaches and their pits vary in size, consequently it is necessary to provide yielding means for gripping the peach pit. To accomplish this result the upper peach holder 29 is slidably rmounted on a Vsleeve'3'0, which sleeve is prodisposed therein the pin 37 carried by the upper end of the sleeve 30, the peach holding vsleeve 29-will 4be forced downwardly to a position where it will be engaged by the peach as it is raised by the` lower peach holder, and by providing theyielding means 33 peaches having pits o-fvarious sizes will be gripped and held irrespectiveof the necessary uniform stroke of the rock lever 35.`

Slidably mounted within` the sleeve is a rsleeve 38, which. sleeve isI in-turn slidably mounted on a knock out rod 39 carried by the bracket 40 of the frame. Sleeve 38 has connected thereto slotte-d ends 41 of bell crank levers42, and which bell crank levers are pivotallyniounted fat 43 on the frame and have downwardly extending arms 44, which arms, when the slotted ends of the arms are rpulledy upwardly as shown in Fig-iv vure l, move the knife bars` 45, in slots 46 of which they engage inwardly towards each other, thereby moving the knife blades 22 towards each other for severing the peach which has been previously gripped by 'the holding members 21 and 29. y VVhe-n the 4knives 22 approach the yendy of their stroke inwardly, said knives 22, which are hingedly mounted at 47 are forced outwardly or spread in'opposite directions,

' thereby pulling the opposite sections of the peachwhich have been vpreviously cut apart, and away fromthe pit, which is held by the pit holding means. rlhe severing blades 22 are forced. apart `by means of rollers' 48 which kare in the parallel guide slots 49 of the guide bar 50 during the peach severing operation entering the diverging portions 51 of saidl slots 49 at the end of the stroke. lUpon the return movement of the knife bars 45, t-he rollers 48 again enter the slots 49 and close t-he knives 22 to the position shown in Figures 2 and 4. Bell crank levers 42 have arms connected to the sleeve 38 as clearly sho-wn in Figures 6 and 7, therefore it 'will be r'seen ,that when the peach is' gripped by the upper member 29 after being raised to a position between the knives, that a further upward movement thereof will force upwardly vthe sleeves 38, which will engagevthe kcollar 52, consequently the bell crank levers 42 are rocked on their pivotal point and the arms 44 will move inwardly for moving the knives 22 towards each other. Lever 35. which controls t-he upward movement ofthe sleeve 30, has one of itsv ends provided with a roller 53, which is disposed in a cam'slot 54 of a cam member 55 on the shaft 3, and consequently the time of rocking thereof may be varied as desired laccording to the shape ofthe cam slot. -Mounted on the shaft 3 is a cam slot member 55a,

which cooperates with a rock lever 56, onel end of which is provided with a'slotv 57,

which has slidably mounted therein the pin l treme upward movement of the sleeve 3 0 inimediatelyafter the peach separating operation, therefore it will be seen' thatthe lower end 59 of said rod will `engage a peach pit n which may be impinged on the holding member 29 and dislodge, the same.

From the above it will be seen that a peac pitting and Asevering machine is provided wherebya peach is gripped, moved t'o a position between severing blades and the severing blades moved into severing engagement at opposite sides of the peach, after which t-he blades are forced apart'wh'ile in the opposite sides ofthe peach for` tearing the sides of the peach away from the pit which is being held. It will'alsobe seen that all of the mechanism for holding' and-severing the peachl is controlled by means of camfslots on va p single shaft, and Vwhich cam slotsl control rock levers, therefore it `will be seen that the operation is 'a positive one, the device simple in construction and yieldable means is provided in connection therewith rwhereby A*the pit gripping mechanism will automatically accommodate itself to kpits of differentsize, without modifyingy the operation of any of the rock levers. Y i

The invention having been set forthvwhat is claimed as new and useful is n l. AA peach severing device Ycomprising vertically movable cooperating pit gripping members, oppositelyk disposed horizontally movable severing knives, means for moving said knives towards each other into opposite sides of a peach, and means for spreading said knives when they reach the end of their inward movement and means for restoring the gripping inembeis to normal position. c

2. A peach severing device comprising vertically movable cooperating pit gripping spreading said knives at the innery ends of their stroke, said last named camand lever means also forming means for returning the knives to normal positions and lowering the gripping members to normal position.

3. The combination witha peach gripping and severing device, said device comprising vertically movable gripping `memn bers, of knives disposed above the lower gripping member and horizontally movable' towards and away from each other, said knives comprising knife bars, blades pivotally connected to the knife bars, rollers carried by said blades, said rollers cooperating i with cams whereby the knives will be `normally maintained in engagement with each c other and spread apart as they approach they ends of their inward movement.

t. The combination with a peach gripping;

and severing device, said device comprising vertically movable pit gripping members adapted to grip opposite sides of a pit, means .n for moving said members simultaneously up-y wardly, oppositely disposed severing knives, said severing knives comprising hingedly mounted blades normally in engagement with each other, of means cooperating with said knives for moving the same simultaneously inwardly towards each other, cams having cam slots, said blades being provided with members cooperating with rthe cam slots of the cams whereby said blades during their inward movement will be in engagement with each other, andfwhen they reach the inner ends of the slotsr will be yspread apart, said spreading means also forming means whereby upon an outward movement of the knives, said blades will be moved into engagement with each other. i

5. AL peach severing device comprising peach gripping members, yieldable means carried -by said members whereby peaches of different sizey may be held thereby, means *cooperating with said gripping members whereby said gripping members will" be moved towards and away from each other,

horizontally movable severing. knives, saidy severing knives comprising pairs of hingedly mounted blades, ymeans for moving said knives towards the peach held by the gripping members and spreading said knives after the severing operation, means for moving said knivesoutwardly and closing the blades, :and knock out means cooperating with thel gripping members pits which may become impaledthereon will be dislodged',

6., yThe combination with a peach gripping, s'elveringandI separating machine, said machine comprising ypit gripping members, spreadable severing knives "movable towards and' away yfrom said peach, of lever means cooperatingwith the knivesfor controlling they knives, said lever means beingk controlled by the peach gripping members, an operating shaft, members having cam slots mounted on said operatingshaft, rock levers, ysaid rock levers beingconnected to the gripping ymembers 'and controlled byy the cam slots of the members mounted on the operating shaft.

7. The combination with a peach severing device 'comprising horizontally movable severinv'and s readinea members verticall b i b, 7

movable peach gripping; members, one of said membersbeing normally disposed below the knives and movable to a position between the knives, of an endless vbelt conveyor adjacent the lower gripping member and forming means whereby peaches may be conveyed to a position adjacent the lower gripping member before said gripping member moves upwardly to a position kbetween the knives.

In testimony' whereof Iphave signed .my name to this specification in the presence of two `subscribing. witnesses.

i IGNAZIO PIERMATTEI.

l Witnesses:

J. yM. CAMr, y A.1K. BowLns, Jr. 

